Ice making machine

ABSTRACT

Provided is a device for cooling a condenser of an ice making machine. Water and air are simultaneously supplied to the surface of the condenser, and heat of vaporization absorbed during evaporation of the water is used, thereby maximizing cooling performance on the condenser just with a small amount of water. In addition, power consumption for operating a blower fan, and a noise from the blower fan can be decreased. In addition, since cool water generated from ice stored in a storing compartment is sprinkled to the condenser, the condenser can be more effectively cooled. In addition, since meltwater is used, water consumption for cooling can be significantly reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0073043 (filed on Jul. 28, 2010), and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0006520(filed on Jan. 21, 2011), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an ice making machine.

Ice making machines quickly produce a large amount of ice. Ice making machines may be classified into horizontal ones and vertical ones according to methods of installing an ice making grid plate, and the vertical ice making machines are widely used.

Such a vertical ice making machine includes an ice making grid plate that is vertically disposed. Water flows down along a grid from the upper side of the ice making grid plate, and is frozen by refrigerant circulating through an ice making coil disposed on the rear surface of the ice making grid plate, and thus, pieces of ice are made and grown in the inner space of the grid.

When the pieces of ice are grown to have a predetermined size in the inner space of the grind, that is, in cells of the grid, a sensor senses the size of the ice to stop an ice making operation. At this point, when high pressure gas is directly introduced to the ice making coil to heat the grid and the ice making grid plate, the boundaries of the pieces of ice contacting the grid are melted, and the pieces of ice, which have a plate shape, are dropped from the cells, and are stored in a collecting barrel.

Such an ice making machine typically includes a machine compartment that accommodates a freezing cycle device on its lower rear surface. The machine compartment further accommodates a compressor, a condenser, and a condenser fan for cooling the condenser. The condenser fan blows air to the condenser to dissipate heat of condensation, thereby improving cooling efficiency for the condenser.

However, when indoor air is in a high or closed space, circulation of the indoor air may be difficult. Thus, dissipation of heat from the condenser by the condenser fan, which is an air-cooling type fan, may be difficult, and the cooling efficiency for the condenser may be degraded. To address these limitations, a so-called water-cooling type condenser, which is cooled with water, is introduced. However, in this case, it is required to continually supply water on the condenser, and thus, water consumption is increased. In addition, since the condenser is cooled only with water, cooling efficiency for the condenser is not high.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, an ice making machine includes: an ice making compartment accommodating an ice making unit for making ice, and storing the ice; a machine compartment disposed under the ice making compartment, and accommodating a cool air generating unit including a compressor, a condenser, and a blower fan; a water collecting plate disposed between the ice making compartment and the machine compartment, and collecting water generated from ice melted in the ice making compartment; a sprinkling barrel disposed over the condenser, and communicating with the water collecting plate to sprinkle cooling water to the condenser; and the blower fan forcibly moving air for cooling the condenser.

The water collecting plate may be provided with a discharge tube for discharging water collected in the sprinkling barrel, and the discharge tube may be provided with a valve for selectively discharging the collected water.

The sprinkling barrel may be provided with a level sensor that measures a level of water in the sprinkling barrel to open and close the valve.

A water collecting barrel may be disposed under the condenser to store water flowing along an outer surface of the condenser.

The water collecting barrel may be provided with a discharge tube for discharging the stored water.

The water collecting barrel may be provided with a level sensor, and the discharge tube may be provided with a valve that is opened and closed by the level sensor to selectively discharge the water from the water collecting barrel.

The water collecting barrel may be connected to the sprinkling barrel through a circulation tube, and the circulation tube may be provided with a circulation pump.

The sprinkling barrel may have a length corresponding to a width of the condenser, and be disposed on a vertical upper side of the condenser.

The sprinkling barrel may include holes that are arrayed in a width direction of the condenser to sprinkle water to an outer surface of the condenser.

The blower fan may operate when the valve is opened.

The sprinkling barrel may be disposed at a position that is horizontally spaced apart from a vertical upper side of the condenser.

The sprinkling barrel may be opposite to the blower fan with respect to the condenser.

The condenser may include a refrigerant tube that has a vertical long oval shape in a cross-section thereof.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice making machine according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit controlling the configuration of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the configuration of FIG. 4, with a cross-sectional view illustrating refrigerant tubes of the condenser of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between power consumption and a distance between a sprinkling barrel and a condenser according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice making machine according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to the current embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit controlling the configuration of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the ice making machine including a cooling device for the condenser also includes a main body 1 having a hexahedron shape, and a door 2 opening and closing an ice dispensing opening of the main body 1.

The main body 1 may be divided into an ice making compartment in the upper portion thereof, and a storing compartment in the lower portion thereof. The ice making compartment may communicate with the storing compartment. An ice making unit 3 for making ice is disposed in the upper portion of the ice making compartment. A water supply unit (hereinafter, a first water supply unit) (not shown) may be disposed at the upper side of the ice making unit 3 to supply water to the ice making unit 3.

A machine compartment may be disposed at the lower side of the storing compartment, that is, in the lower rear portion of the main body 1, and a cool air generating unit 10 may be disposed in the machine compartment to supply cool air to the ice making unit 3.

The cool air generating unit 10 includes a compressor 11 for compressing refrigerant, a condenser 12 for condensing the refrigerant compressed in the compressor 11, and a blower fan 13 for dissipating heat from the condenser 12. The cool air generating unit 10 further includes a cooling water supply unit 20 (hereinafter, a second water supply unit) that collects meltwater from the storing compartment to sprinkle the meltwater to the condenser 12.

The compressor 11, the condenser 12, and the blower fan 13 may be arrayed along a lateral line.

A water collecting plate 5 is disposed between the ice making compartment and the machine compartment to collect water from ice melted in the ice making compartment, and includes a discharge tube 6 for discharging collected water.

Referring to FIG. 2, the lower end of the discharge tube 6 communicates with a sprinkling barrel 21 to be described later, and the sprinkling barrel 21 is disposed between the lower end of the discharge tube 6 and the upper end of the condenser 12.

Sprinkling holes (not shown) are arrayed in the sprinkling barrel 21 in a width direction of the condenser 12 to sprinkle meltwater collected by the water collecting plate 5 to the condenser 12.

The sprinkling barrel 21 may be provided with a first level sensor 22 for detecting a level of collected meltwater in real time. The discharge tube 6 may be provided with a first valve 23 for selectively discharging meltwater collected in the sprinkling barrel 21.

A water collecting barrel 24 is disposed under the condenser 12 to collect water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser 12. The water collecting barrel 24 may be connected to a discharge tube 25 for discharging the collected water out of the ice making machine.

The water collecting barrel 24 may be provided with a second level sensor 26 for detecting a level of water collected in the water collecting barrel 24. The discharge tube 25 may be provided with a second valve 27 for selectively discharging water.

A circulation tube 28 may connect the water collecting barrel 24 and the sprinkling barrel 21 to each other. The circulation tube 28 may be provided with a circulation pump 29 for pumping water from the water collecting barrel 24 to the sprinkling barrel 21.

Referring to FIG. 3, the blower fan 13, the first level sensor 22, the first valve 23, the second level sensor 26, the second valve 27, and the circulation pump 29 may be electrically connected to a control unit 30 to operate in conjunction with one another.

Operations and effects of a cooling device for a condenser of an ice making machine as described above will now be disposed.

That is, after the ice making unit 3 makes ice, the ice is dropped and stored in the storing compartment of the main body 1. Over time, the ice stored in the storing compartment is melted to form meltwater.

Then, the meltwater collected in the bottom of the storing compartment is collected in the water collecting plate 5 at the lower side of the storing compartment. The meltwater collected in the water collecting plate 5 is collected in the sprinkling barrel 21 through the discharge tube 6. When the sprinkling barrel 21 overflows, or cooling of the condenser 12 is unnecessary, the first valve 23 provided to the discharge tube 6 prevents the meltwater collected in the water collecting plate 5 from moving to the sprinkling barrel 21.

When cooling of the condenser 12 is necessary, the first valve 23 is opened to sprinkle the meltwater collected in the sprinkling barrel 21 to the upper portion of the condenser 12 through the sprinkling holes (not shown). At this point, the control unit 30 operates the blower fan 13 to supply air to the condenser 12.

Then, the water sprinkled from the sprinkling barrel 21 and flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser 12 is evaporated by the air supplied by the blower fan 13 and absorbs heat of vaporization from the condenser 12, thereby cooling the condenser 12. After the evaporation, the rest of the water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser 12 is collected in the water collecting barrel 24 under the condenser 12.

Then, the circulation pump 29 installed on the circulation tube 28 between the water collecting barrel 24 and the sprinkling barrel 21 pumps the water from the water collecting barrel 24 to the sprinkling barrel 21, to thereby reuse it. At this point, since the water collecting barrel 24 is connected to the discharge tube 25, and the second valve 27 is installed on the discharge tube 25, when the sprinkling barrel 21 or the water collecting barrel 24 overflows, or cooling of the condenser 12 is unnecessary, the water collected in the water collecting plate 24 may be discharged out of the ice making machine, instead of pumping the water to the sprinkling barrel 21.

As such, water and air are simultaneously supplied to the surface of the condenser 12, and heat of vaporization absorbed during evaporation of the water is used, thereby maximizing cooling performance on the condenser 12 just with a small amount of water. In addition, power consumption for operating the blower fan 13, and a noise from the blower fan 13 can be decreased. In addition, since cool water generated from ice stored in the storing compartment is sprinkled to the condenser 12, the condenser 12 can be more effectively cooled. In addition, since meltwater is used, water consumption for cooling can be significantly reduced.

An ice making machine according to the present disclosure may be described according to various embodiments. An ice making machine according to another embodiment will now be described.

In the current embodiment, a water supply unit is disposed at an opposite side of a condenser to a blower fan, and is spaced apart from the condenser.

Thus, since the rest parts of the current embodiment except for the position of the water supply unit are the same as those of the previous embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted, and like reference numeral denote like elements.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration for cooling a condenser according to the current embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the configuration of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a second water supply unit 20 according to the current embodiment includes a sprinkling barrel 121, a first level sensor 22, a first valve 23, a water collecting barrel 24, a discharge tube 25, a second level sensor 26, a second valve 27, a circulation tube 28, and a circulation pump 29.

The sprinkling barrel 121 is disposed under the discharge tube 6. The sprinkling barrel 121 is spaced a distance L from the upper end of a condenser 12, and thus is disposed at the front upper side of the condenser 12. That is, the sprinkling barrel 121 is disposed over the condenser 12 at a position horizontally spaced apart from the condenser 12. For example, the sprinkling barrel 121 may be disposed in front of the condenser 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The lower end of the discharge tube 6 communicates with the sprinkling barrel 121. Water collected in the water collecting plate 5 is discharged to the sprinkling barrel 121 through the discharge tube 6. One or more discharge holes (not shown) are arrayed in the sprinkling barrel 121 in a width direction of the condenser 12. Water collected in the sprinkling barrel 121 is sprinkled through the discharge holes. At this point, the water is sprinkled in a direction parallel to the front surface of the condenser 12. The discharge holes are disposed out of a region that vertically overlaps the condenser 12.

The first level sensor 22 may be provided to the sprinkling barrel 121 to detect the level of water in the sprinkling barrel 121.

The water collecting barrel 24 is disposed under the condenser 12. Water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser 12 may be stored in the water collecting barrel 24. Water, which is discharged from the sprinkling barrel 121 and does not arrive at the condenser 12, may be dropped and stored in the water collecting barrel 24. That is, the water collecting barrel 24 may be disposed at the vertical low side of the sprinkling barrel 121.

The water collecting barrel 24 may be connected to the discharge tube 25 for discharging water from the water collecting barrel 24 to the outside of the ice making machine.

The water collecting barrel 24 may be provided with the second level sensor 26 for detecting the level of water collected in the water collecting barrel 24.

The discharge tube 25 may be provided with the second valve 27 for selectively discharging water collected in the water collecting barrel 24.

The water collecting barrel 24 is connected to the sprinkling barrel 121 through the circulation tube 28. The circulation tube 28 may be provided with the circulation pump 29 for pumping water from the water collecting barrel 24 to the sprinkling barrel 121.

The blower fan 13 is disposed behind the condenser 12. The blower fan 13 sucks air from the front side thereof, and blows the air to the rear side thereof. That is, air flows from the condenser 12 to the blower fan 13. Water sprinkled to the front side of the condenser 12 is moved to the condenser 12 by an air flow, and contacts the outer surface of the condenser 12. That is, the sprinkling barrel 121 is disposed at a side of the condenser 12 with respect to a vertical center line C of the condenser 12, and the blower fan 13 is disposed at the other side of the condenser 12 with respect to the vertical center line C. In other words, the sprinkling barrel 121 is opposite to the blower fan 13 with respect to the condenser 12.

The condenser 12 includes refrigerant tubes 120 that have a vertical long oval shape in a cross-section thereof. In this case, since an area of the oval shape contacting water is greater than that of a circular shape in a cross-section thereof, the amount of water evaporated from the outer surface of the refrigerant tube 120 can be increased. Accordingly, since water flowing along the outer surface of the refrigerant tube 120 absorbs more heat from the refrigerant tube 120, the condenser 12 can be more efficiently cooled.

The blower fan 13, the first level sensor 22, the first valve 23, the second level sensor 26, the second valve 27, and the circulation pump 29 may be electrically connected to a control unit (not shown) 30 to operate in conjunction with one another.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between power consumption and a distance between a sprinkling barrel and a condenser according to another embodiment.

The sprinkling barrel 121 is spaced the distance L from the upper end of the condenser 12, and thus is disposed at the front upper side of the condenser 12. The distance L may be determined to minimize power consumption of a cooling device for the condenser 12.

When the blower fan 13 is rotated with a motor of about 60 W, a relationship between the distance L and power consumption of the cooling device is shown in FIG. 6. When the distance L is about 15 mm, the power consumption is about 5.01 kWh that is the minimum. Thus, when the distance L is maintained at about 15 mm, the power consumption can be minimized. As such, the distance L may be determined according to a condition of the cooling device such as the type of a motor included in the cooling device.

Operations and effects of a cooling device for a condenser of an ice making machine as described above will now be disposed.

Ice made in the ice making unit 3 is stored in the storing compartment of the main body 1. Over time, the ice stored in the storing compartment is melted to water. The water is collected in the water collecting plate 5 disposed in the storing compartment. The water collected in the water collecting plate 5 is discharged to the sprinkling barrel 121 through the discharge tube 6. The first valve 23 provided to the discharge tube 6 is opened or closed to selectively discharge the water. That is, when the sprinkling barrel 121 overflows, or cooling of the condenser 12 is unnecessary, the first valve 23 is closed to prevent the water collected in the water collecting plate 5 from being discharged to the sprinkling barrel 121.

When cooling of the condenser 12 is necessary, the first valve 23 is opened. The water collected in the sprinkling barrel 21 is sprinkled to the front side of the condenser 12 through the discharge holes (not shown). At this point, the blower fan 13 sucks air from the condenser 12. The water sprinkled to the front side of the condenser 12 is moved by a flow of the sucked air, and contacts the condenser 12. The water contacting the condenser 12 flows down along the outer surface of the condenser 12, and is evaporated by the sucked air. The water absorbs heat of vaporization from the condenser 12, thereby cooling the condenser 12.

After the evaporation, the rest of the water flowing down along the outer surface of the condenser 12 is collected in the water collecting barrel 24 under the condenser 12. The water collected in the water collecting barrel 24 may be pumped to the sprinkling barrel 121 through the circulation tube 28 by the circulation pump 29. The water pumped to the sprinkling barrel 121 may be reused to cool the condenser 12.

The water collected in the water collecting barrel 24 may be discharged through the discharge tube 25. The second valve 27 installed on the discharge tube 25 may be opened and closed to selectively discharge the water from the water collecting barrel 24 to the outside of the ice making machine, instead of pumping the water to the sprinkling barrel 121. When the sprinkling barrel 121 or the water collecting barrel 24 overflows, or cooling of the condenser 12 is unnecessary, the second valve 27 is opened to discharge the water collected in the water collecting barrel 24 through the discharge tube 25.

As described above, cooling efficiency for a condenser may be improved by an air flow and heat of vaporization during evaporation of water. In addition, since power consumption for operating a blower fan can be reduced, a noise from the blower fan can be decreased. In addition, cool water generated from ice melted in a storing compartment is sprinkled to the condenser to thereby further improve the cooling efficiency for the condenser. In addition, since meltwater and water collected in a water collecting barrel are reused, water consumption for cooling can be significantly reduced.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. An ice making machine comprising: an ice making compartment accommodating an ice making unit for making ice, and storing the ice; a machine compartment disposed under the ice making compartment, and accommodating a cool air generating unit including a compressor, a condenser, and a blower fan; a water collecting plate disposed between the ice making compartment and the machine compartment, and collecting water generated from ice melted in the ice making compartment; a sprinkling barrel disposed over the condenser, and communicating with the water collecting plate to sprinkle cooling water to the condenser; and the blower fan forcibly moving air for cooling the condenser.
 2. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the water collecting plate is provided with a discharge tube for discharging water collected in the sprinkling barrel, and the discharge tube is provided with a valve for selectively discharging the collected water.
 3. The ice making machine according to claim 2, wherein the sprinkling barrel is provided with a level sensor that measures a level of water in the sprinkling barrel to open and close the valve.
 4. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein a water collecting barrel is disposed under the condenser to store water flowing along an outer surface of the condenser.
 5. The ice making machine according to claim 4, wherein the water collecting barrel is provided with a discharge tube for discharging the stored water.
 6. The ice making machine according to claim 5, wherein the water collecting barrel is provided with a level sensor, and the discharge tube is provided with a valve that is opened and closed by the level sensor to selectively discharge the water from the water collecting barrel.
 7. The ice making machine according to claim 4, wherein the water collecting barrel is connected to the sprinkling barrel through a circulation tube, and the circulation tube is provided with a circulation pump.
 8. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the sprinkling barrel has a length corresponding to a width of the condenser, and is disposed on a vertical upper side of the condenser.
 9. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the sprinkling barrel includes holes that are arrayed in a width direction of the condenser to sprinkle water to an outer surface of the condenser.
 10. The ice making machine according to claim 2, wherein the blower fan operates when the valve is opened.
 11. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the sprinkling barrel is disposed at a position that is horizontally spaced apart from a vertical upper side of the condenser.
 12. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the sprinkling barrel is opposite to the blower fan with respect to the condenser.
 13. The ice making machine according to claim 1, wherein the condenser comprises a refrigerant tube that has a vertical long oval shape in a cross-section thereof. 